Renfrewshire Council cutting primary teacher time by 10%

[MrsBalfy]

Is anyone aware of what is happening to education in Renfrewshire? There has been a policy agreed to take away 2.5hrs a week of the current 25hrs that primary children have. The council have yet to define the job descriptions of these people and have yet to place an advert for recruiting them and yet the pilot is due to start in April.

Can anyone give us some advice how we can oppose this, I don't want my children's education to be decreased like this, I want them to have just as good an education as all of the other councils in Scotland.

Euphemia my concern was always about my children too but just because my opinion differs from yours you felt is was appropriate to have a pop with comments like shame on you. My children will always come first. They are my first thought no matter what the issue is. Hense my reaction to shame on you. I am happy to differ in opinion and realised after visiting the RPCF that their site was not for me. Contrary to the RPCF site, this forum is a discussion forum. Points are supposed to be welcome from all angles. I have researched this in great detail over the last couple of months and I am up to speed with all the facts. My children mean the world to me and I would never put them at a disadvantage.I don't have a hidden agenda,only my children's best interests. Not sure about everyone else!!!!

Congratulations to Jeanie50 !.

Nice to hear the other side of the debate.

What I want to know now is where is the £1.2 million they are not saving going to come from. Renfreswhire is in a hell of a state already!!

Renfrewshire even, think it may be time to bail out to East Ren.!

Typical Renfrewshire Council - says one thing and does another - they didn't "suspend" the plan at the last education meeting thanks to Ms Cameron rudely not allowing anyone to discuss it after she took it off the agenda, do we honestly trust this bunch of nincompoops to run out council, look at the state of Paisley - we are now a discount town and they want to provide discount education services - I don't think so - I know what I will be doing come election time!

Carry02 Good for you, that is what voting at election time is all about. Good luck with labour they did not even have an alternative budget plan. Its great news that they have not suspended it as it means we have a chance of getting it implemented. There are over 12000 pupils across Renfrewshire. The people who are opposing this proposal are in the minority.Many of them were teachers or teachers who travelled from other areas. Basically it was an EIS union meeting with a few parents and children. I have checked with many friends who have children across Renfrewshire, these services are being delivered already.You are being manipulated. Ask your child what happens in the course of a day or week to establish who else is teaching your child. Football, hockey, basketball,golf and young leader sessions are being delivered by coaches during core PE time. So much for only teachers can teach PE. I am outraged that these people are making out they are talking for all parents. They are not talking for me and many of my friends. Lets hope we have not heard the end of it whether it be through Renfrewshire Council's implementation or the McCormac review.

If they are in the minority how come I have yet to meet a single parent in the playground who was in favour of this plan?
I believe in an equal education for all but I am now seriously thinking about going private . This goes against every principle I have held. I do not believe it was going to be people with sports science degrees or Pace teaching my child. They already visit my child's primary school. It was going to be the long term unemployed with a little training. Sorry but that is not good enough for my child.
I am not a teacher so have no hidden agenda.

Redpanda13. It was never going to target the long term unemployed. The statement from a number of people said that they would target the right person for the job. European funding would only be tapped into if the person was 12 months unemployed. The truth is that Renfrewshire would have employment opportunities for up to 120 people. The majority of the candidates would have been educated to degree level with more experience in their field than a primary teacher. This whole proposal was done in by the labour party because thats how it works in politics. In my opinion even if we had a labour administration it would have been done in by the snp party because thats how mental it all gets. I understand that some people are against it and thats fine, we are all grown ups and want to do the best for our children. I want 25 hours of education for my children but I am a wee bit more open minded to accept new approaches. I was watching tv the other night seeing Jamie Oliver going into English schools to promote healthy eating, healthy cooking etc. Wow, we could not allow that in Renfrewshire, afterall hes not a teacher.Thats how daft this is getting. I know a number of people of all ages with a lot of relevant experience that would have applied for these jobs. Its a pity they will not get the chance. For what its is worth I don't think the proposal will go ahead and thats a real shame.

Euphemia, I agree that all our opinions have merit and value no matter what side of the fence you are on. Thats why I get a bit disgrunted when people try to tell me that my opinion does not count or that I am misinformed. I can asure you that I have researched this just as much as anyone else.I would also say that RC were up front about the reasons this was being implemented. They stated from the word go that £1.2 million pounds would be saved per year. I think the powers that be really do think and believe that this proposal was going to bring something really good to renfrewshire. I think its worth considering for just a second 'what if' these employees really did manage to bring an enriched programme of activities to your child.Renfrewshire Council had everyone up and down the country watching this proposal from day one. It was in their best interests to make this programme fantastic and I am sure if given the chance it would have been. I agree with you some elected members have not been very clever and there is no excuse for behaving in that manner. However when I had an initial look on the RPCF site it was full of the same. One of the regular users felt it was appropriate to use the C U Next Tuesday word. That's when I logged off and did not return to the site.Not sure about some of your cuts mentioned above. I do not recall a cut to Active School workers but I may be wrong. I know Jamie Olivers Dream School is all about celebrity specialists in their field delivering to teenagers but this proposal was along the same lines. I just wish it had been piloted in even one school to see what the feedback was. When you clear away all the political mishmash and try to forgive them for their poor consultation process and acknowledge that this is being done to save money rather than close schools we are left with the bare 'enrichment programme' on the table. I would have liked to see the content of what they planned to deliver before it was binned. But I think that door is well and truly closed. Bottom line is the money still has to be found. Once we find out what plan b is we can start a new thread because I think one is redundant.